Postseason preview?

Sterling senior Dallas Magnusson delivers a pitch as a Valley player leads off of first base during Thursday's game at Mason Field in Sterling. Magnusson went all seven innings, allowed one run, and struck out nine, but the Vikings earned the 1-0 win.

Sterling senior Dallas Magnusson delivers a pitch as a Valley player leads off of first base during Thursday's game at Mason Field in Sterling. Magnusson went all seven innings, allowed one run, and struck out nine, but the Vikings earned the 1-0 win. (David Wilson / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

Good pitching beats good hitting. It's a rule as old as baseball and softball themselves. And a rule that everyone in attendance at Mason Field on Thursday for the No. 1 ranked Sterling softball team's season opener against No. 2 ranked Valley saw play out firsthand.

In what was a potential preview of a state playoff game, the Tigers and Vikings each sent their respective aces to the hill in the form of Sterling senior Dallas Magnusson and Valley senior Bridgette Hutton.

Each ace was dominating. And each ace went all seven innings. But it was an errant throw on a comebacker hit to Magnusson — one of the few spots the right-hander missed all day — that helped pave the way to a 1-0 victory for Valley.

With Vikings standing at second and third with one out, thanks to a leadoff double by Valley sophomore McKenzie Bond and a bunt misplayed by the Tigers' infield; Amanda Powell smoked a one-hop comebacker to Magnusson. Bond froze on the play and dove back to third base, but was able to trot home with the lone run of the game when Magnusson's throw went wide-right and up the third-base line.

"In the last inning, I think some of our old inexperience came back to us that we didn't field the bunt with the right people and (on the comebacker) we probably should have just thrown the ball to first," said Tigers head coach, Bob Knudson. "That's something we can learn from. We practice rundowns a lot and I think that's what we thought Valley was going to do, but we'd have been better off if we got the out at first."

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Magnusson, who struck out nine Vikings while not allowing a walk and scattering six hits on Thursday, was able to work out of the rest of the inning without any more damage, but the Sterling offense wasn't able to get after Hutton as the Tigers went down 1-2-3 in the home-half of the seventh.

Hutton limited the Tigers to just three hits — two of which were bunt singles by junior Alexis Rutz that didn't leave the infield —walked two, and struck out eight hitters en route to picking up the win.

"Hutton came out, pitched really well, and we expected that from her," Knudson said. "We struggled with the bats. We didn't have real good approaches at the plate, which I think will get better. In our first game of the year we faced one of the best pitchers in the state and she was a handful."

It was a disappointing loss for the Tigers, especially coming against a Class 3A District 3 rival, but far from a morale-crushing defeat.

In fact, the tightly contested loss may have just been the early test the Tigers, the Class 3A state runner-ups last season, needed to take.

"I don't know if there are many good losses. I'd like to win all of them. But I think we do know what we're up against now," Knudson said. "We talk that we want to be better at the end of the season than we are now and, obviously, that's something we have to do."

Sterling junior Alexis Rutz lays down a bunt and heads toward first base during Thursday's game against Valley. Rutz had two of the Tigers' three hits, but the Vikings came away with the 1-0 win. (David Wilson / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

The Tigers will be back on the diamond and in search of their first win in 2014 at 4 p.m today when they host non-conference opponent, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

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